There have been myths in circulation concerning a so-called identity crisis of ‘Bi-Racial’ individuals. The statement claims “the children won’t know who or what they are!” Several young individuals have expressed their heavy laden burden of being bi-racial by identifying themselves as “mixed.” This reporter has attempted to remove that piece of their problem in the ‘gone-does not exist’ receptacle. I use the metaphor of ‘baking a cake or a pie’ as one example of the non-sequitor. Messages received in response have been pleasingly jovial and understood. Several ‘Bi-Racial’ social connections as well as those of whom I know personally, have eagerly engaged in the topic, have accepted and continue to make changes in the description of people like them…with pride.

Many people who are ‘Bi-Racial’ have been perceived as ‘Black’ unless it benefits or pleases the eye of the beholder. Not to mention those who have been described as passing – (for white). Many children who are Bi-Racial have been raised in the Black community. However, that particular count is misleading. The billions of Bi-Racial Children all over the world have not been included with the groups of Bi-Racial Children in the states. When you consider Germany, Italy, France, Russia, Ireland, England, Spain, China, Japan, Turkey, Israel, and all of the other countries, nations, and states throughout the world that Black People have at one time or another, set foot by visitation and/or planted roots; babies were born and bred without a thought, to the contrary or otherwise – it was a normal thing to do.

The article ‘Outnumbered’ has put the challenge of that argument, hopefully, to rest. However cases of said anxieties are not to be considered non-existent. So, to those of you who question yourselves and your identity…bear with me for a moment and continue to absorb the following text.

Nine U.S. counties in five states saw their minority populations across all age groups surpass 50 percent last year.

So-called Minorities made up roughly 2.02 million, or 50.4 percent of U.S. births in the 12-month period ending July 2011. That compares with 37 percent in 1990.

In all, 348 of the nation’s 3,143 counties, or 1 in 9, have minority populations across all age groups that total more than 50 percent. In a sign of future U.S. race and ethnic change, the number of counties reaching the tipping point increases to more than 690, or nearly 1 in 4, when looking only at the under age 5 population.

The number of white births fell by 11.4 percent, compared with 3.2 percent for minorities, according to Kenneth Johnson, a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire.

The Pew Foundation found other findings within the research report:

The migration of Black Americans back to the South is slowing. New destinations in the South, including Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., and Orlando, Fla., saw sharp drop-offs in black population growth as the prolonged housing bust kept African-Americans locked in place in traditional big cities.

Do you still entertain some level of doubt in yourself? Do you still feel unimpressed and unconvinced? Are you feeling downtrodden or perplexed – defeated? Take a glimpse into the life and times of Brother Hans Massaquoi.

The Nuremberg Laws were passed in 1935; Massaquoi was classified as a non-Aryan. With a view to becoming an expert machinist was encouraged by his mother to embark on an apprenticeship.

He was unable to pursue a professional career and instead A few months before finishing school, Massaquoi was required to go to a government-run job center where his assigned vocational counselor was Herr von Vett, a member of the SS. Upon seeing the “telltale black SS insignia of dual lightning bolts in the lapel of his civilian suit,” Massaquoi expected humiliation. Instead, he was surprised when he was greeted with “a friendly wink”, offered a seat and asked to present something which he had made. After showing von Vett an axe and discussing his experience in working for a local blacksmith shop, Massaquoi was surprised to be informed that he could “be of great service to Germany one day” because there would be a great demand for technically trained Germans, who would go to Africa to train and develop an African workforce when Germany reclaimed its African colonies. Before Massaquoi left the interview, von Vett invited him to shake his hand which was another source of confusion to Massaquoi.

The daily life of the young Massaquoi was remarkable. He was one of the few mixed race children in Nazi Germany, and like most of the other children his age, he thought about joining the Hitler Youth. There was a school contest to see if a class could get a 100% membership of the Deutsches Jungvolk (a subdivision of Hitler Youth) and Massaquoi’s teacher devised a chart on the blackboard which showed who had joined and who had not. As this was filled in after each person joined, Massaquoi felt left out, and he recalled saying, “But I am German…my Mother says I’m German just like anybody else”. He then persuaded his mother to let him join the Jungvolk. He went to register at the nearest office but he faced hostility.

Massaquoi lived a simple, but happy childhood with his mother, Bertha Nikodijevic. His father, Al-Haj Massaquoi, was a law student in Dublin who only occasionally lived with the family at the consul general home in Hamburg. Eventually, the consul general was recalled to Liberia, and Hans Massaquoi and his mother remained in Germany.

Massaquoi describes his childhood and youth in Hamburg during the Nazi rise to power. His biography provides a unique point of view: he was one of very few German-born Bi-Racial children in all of Nazi Germany, shunned, but not persecuted by the Nazis. This dichotomy remained a key theme throughout his whole life.

Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi (January 19, 1926 – January 19, 2013) was a German American journalist and author. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, to a white German mother and Liberian Vai father, the grandson of Momulu Massaquoi, the consul general of Liberia in Germany at the time.

Increasingly, however, he realized the true nature of Nazism. His skin color made him a target for racist abuse. However, in contrast to German Jews or Romani, Massaquoi—an Afro-German—was not persecuted. He was “just” a second-class citizen, which was actually a blessing in disguise. During World War II, his “impurity” spared him from being drafted into the German army. As unemployment, hunger and poverty grew rampant, he even tried to enlist, but he was abusively rejected by the officers. In this time, he befriended the family of Ralph Giordano, a half-Jewish acquaintance of their swing kid age, who survived the war by hiding and ended up being a journalist as well.

Massaquoi dated a white girl but they had to keep their relationship a secret, especially as her father was a member of the police and the SS. Such relationships were also forbidden and classified as ‘Rassenschande’ (race defilement) by the race laws. To keep the relationship secret, they met only in the evenings, when they would go for walks. As he dropped his girlfriend off at her house one night, he was stopped by a member of the SD, the intelligence branch of the SS. He was taken to the police station as he was believed to be “on the prowl for defenseless women or looking for an opportunity to steal”.

Fortunately for Massaquoi, he was recognized by a police officer as living in the area and working:

“This young man is an apprentice at Lindner A.G., where he works much too hard to have enough energy left to prowl the streets at night looking for trouble. I happen to know that because the son of one of my colleagues apprentices with him”.

The SD officer closed the case and gave the Nazi salute, and Massaquoi was allowed to leave the station.

Immigration:

In 1947 Massaquoi was able to visit Liberia, and was fascinated and shocked by its raw, rural nature. He grew estranged from his father Al-Haj. He left his mother and whom he considered arrogant and tyrannical.

Massaquoi immigrated to the United States in 1947. He served two years in the army as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Divisionand became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1950. With his GI bill he studied journalism at the University of Illinois followed by a career at Jet magazine and then Ebony magazine, where he became managing editor. His position allowed him to interview many historical figures of the arts, politics and civil rights movement.

Over the years he visited Germany many times. He’s stated that “Germany is still my homeland.”

Personal life:

Massaquoi’s beloved widow is Katharine Rousseve Massaquoi. He had two sons by a previous marriage, Steve and Hans Jr., who also survived him.

The bloodlines (remember Adam and Eve?) of many different groups of people (if not all) have been blended since throughout time all across the globe. Biracial children, the mixing of the so-called races has existed all over the world since the beginning of time. How does one account for the many different hues and colors of the many different people from everywhere? Is it possible that someone continues to believe that his/her bloodline is truly made up of one individual racial group? Purity, if you will?

Mixed? Well it has been argued that the term is a possible slang for “mixed-bloods.” But when one describes herself or himself as “mixed,’ you have to wonder or question their state of identity.

Surely, those who continue to believe they are superior and outnumber their description of so-called minorities; one must know by now…that you are truly and indeed outnumbered.